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Vic Premier promises parole system shake-up

ELEANOR HALL: Now to Victoria where the Premier is promising to toughen the state's parole system in response to a damning report from a former High Court judge.

The Government commissioned the report after it was revealed that Melbourne woman, Jill Meagher, had been murdered by a violent serial sex offender who was out on parole.

Today Justice Ian Callinan found that the adult parole system has been skewed in favour of criminals at the cost of public safety.

In Melbourne, Samantha Donovan reports.

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: Earlier this year Victorians were sickened to learn that Jill Meagher's murderer was on parole when he killed her last September.

The Victorian Government commissioned the former High Court judge Ian Callinan to review the state's adult parole system.

The Premier Denis Napthine released the report this morning.

DENIS NAPTHINE: It finds that the parole board's deliberations have been skewed too much in favour of offenders and prisoners. It finds that community safety should be the parole board's first priority. And unfortunately, it has not been.

DENIS NAPTHINE: Community safety must be the highest priority of the adult parole board. This report draws a line in the sand. The culture of parole in Victoria must and will change. The safety of the community will be the highest priority for the adult parole board. We will enshrine that declaration of community safety as the highest priority of the adult parole board in the law of Victoria.

He's made 23 recommendations altogether and Premier Napthine says many of them will be implemented straight away, although he's not specifying which ones.

Mr Callinan has recommended that Victoria adopt a two tier system for reviewing parole applications.

EXCERPT FROM IAN CALLIHAN'S RECOMMENDATIONS (voiceover): Their applications for parole should be considered in the first instance by a panel, of which a judge or retired judge of the supreme or county court is the chair. And a psychiatrist and a community member are the others.

Parole should only be granted to these offenders by the unanimous decision of that panel which should however in turn, if parole may be granted, be confirmed, varied or overturned by a review panel.

The decision of the review panel will be final.

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: Ian Callinan also found that Victoria's adult parole board has no sophisticated system of case management and he's recommending all files now be computerised to replace the existing paper file system.

He says the police should be consulted and their intelligence accessed before any prisoners are granted parole.

Mr Callinan says many experts have told him that an offender's behaviour while in jail is an unreliable guide to their likely behaviour on release.

And as a result he recommends that only very experienced forensic psychiatrists or psychologists be engaged to prepare assessment reports.

He also proposes that victims of crime be given a greater say in the granting of parole.

EXCERPT FROM IAN CALLIHAN'S RECOMMENDATIONS (voiceover): Persons on the victims register should be given timely notice of an offender's sentence. The possibility of an offender's parole and any likely conditions of it, in order to enable victims to make submissions and such arrangement as they wish to make if parole were to be granted.

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: Rachael Betts was brutally murdered by a parolee and her body dismembered.

Her mother Sandra Betts told ABC local radio she's been lobbying for a two tier parole review system and she's pleased Ian Callinan has recommended it.

SANDRA BETTS: I'm interested in the composition though, and how that will be formulated.

And we need to see safety experts such as Chartered Fellows of the Safety Institute of Australia or similar risk assessment professionals.

We need to have forensic psychologists, people who can assess public safety in greater numbers than the judiciary and the corrections department.

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: Professor Arie Freiberg is the Chairman of Victoria's Sentencing Advisory Council and a former Dean of Law at Monash University.

He told ABC local radio Ian Callinan has made some very sensible recommendations.

ARIE FREIBERG: Clearly more resources, better pay for the very overwhelmed workforce.

I think the idea of an improvement in the IT and communications system, that will certainly leap the parole board into the middle of the twentieth century in terms of their paperwork.

Better communications between corrections, police and the parole board is very important, we found that was a major problem before.

There will be a very, very much more rigorous process. A much tougher criteria for release. You'd have to have a negligible risk of re-offending. It sets a very, very high standard.

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: The Victorian Government is now asking the community to comment on the Callinan report's recommendations.

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